The present disclosure relates generally to unmanned aircraft. In particular, multi-rotor unmanned aircraft (e.g., drones) having an inflatable fuselage are described.
Known unmanned aircraft are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, most multi rotor drones, especially larger drones greater than 40″ in diameter, require large volumes to store and transport. This may incur issues for operators and additional shipping and storage costs for manufacturers and customers.
In addition, conventional unmanned aircraft typically rely on expensive and difficult to manufacture materials such as carbon fiber to provide the structural stiffness and low weight needed in aircraft materials.
Further, most conventional drones will sink if there is an emergency landing in water which results in a loss of the valuable payload. Additionally, conventional drones would do significant damage to an airplane engine it ingested. Finally, conventional “off the shelf” drones are typically not offered in a variety of colors and graphics.
Thus, there exists a need for unmanned aircraft that improve upon and advance the design of known unmanned aircraft. Examples of new and useful unmanned aircraft relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.